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Her response cracks me up. “Let’s play then.”
We pick our cars, she selects a track, and the screen splits as the countdown begins. Olivia revs the engine of her car, making me chuckle. The race begins. She immediately starts cursing the other drivers until she forces her way past them with a laugh and a, “Haha! Suckers!” Or, “Nana nana boo boo, y’all aren’t ever going to catch up.”
I haven’t heard someone say ‘nana nana boo boo’ in a long, long time. It causes me to laugh so much that I come in dead last. Olivia comes in first.
“I nearly lost with all your laughing. You’re distracting.” She gives me a pointed look, like I better not dare cause her to lose.
“You are too. Restart and I’ll focus.”
She does and I try. Olivia is just too funny. Between the cussing and the gloating she alternates between depending on which place she’s in, I laugh way more than I win.
“Darn it!” she huffs as she spins out after clipping a guard rail. Th
is is my first chance to pass her, maybe even win. I fly right by her. “Oh, no, you don’t,” she mutters, gaining speed behind me.
I’m within seconds of winning when she bumps into me from behind, sending me spinning and crashing into the sidewalk. She wins.
“You play dirty, Olivia.” I shake my head at her.
“Sometimes you have to.”
I SPEND MOST of the next day sleeping, since it was pretty late when I walked over from Olivia’s last night and I could actually sleep. Lucy’s text telling me to have fun this weekend runs through my mind again. The only person I really know here and would feel comfortable hanging out with is Olivia. Reaching for my phone, I text her.
Me: Dinner? My place?
Olivia: You’re a lazy texter, Corey. C’mon, I deserve better.
Me: Do you want to have dinner with me?
Olivia: Since you asked so nicely, yes. My place though. I’ll cook. & wear something you could exercise in. Don’t ask questions. Just do it.
Um. What? Why? But I can’t ask questions. I’m concerned this will turn out as badly as her driving. I do like I’m told, though. When I walk over to her door in sweatpants and a t-shirt, I feel ridiculous. This can’t be normal, right? Olivia opens the door before I can change my mind and leave. She’s dressed in black capri yoga pants and a pink tank top, her yellow sports bra peeking from underneath.
“Why am I wearing this?”
“I said not to ask questions,” she answers as I come in. There’s two blue yoga mats where the coffee table was last night. It’s since been pushed out of the way.
“I’m not doing yoga.”
“Yes, you are if you want to eat. C’mon. You’ll like it, I promise.” She takes my hand in her smaller one and pulls me closer to the mats. She positions me at the end and moves to her own. I glance at her. This isn’t about to happen. There’s no way she’s about to convince me to do this. Noticing my look, she lifts her hand and rests it on my bicep. “It’ll make you feel good, clear your head, and you’ll enjoy it.” Yeah. Probably not. “C’mon, Corey. I was up until four this morning for you and I had to work today. You can do this for me.” Her tone convinces me not to argue.
“Where do you work, and what do you want me to do?”
She lifts her arms straight up in the air. “This, and relax your muscles. I’m a tutor. Take a deep breath.”
I do.
This is stupid.
“Okay, put them down. Do this.” Olivia puts the heel of one of her feet on the inside of her other thigh and lifts her arms in the air. “You can put your foot on your ankle if your balance sucks. This is the tree pose.”
“Remind me why I’m doing this again,” I mumble as I try to control my balance and do it like she is. My balance doesn’t suck. My body leans a little too much to one side and I reluctantly do the easier stance. Okay, maybe it sucks some.
“Because I asked you to. Other leg.” We move on to a triangle pose and then something called warrior. When we do a downward dog, which looks as ridiculous as the name sounds, Olivia tries to hold in her laughter as she looks over at me.
“If you’re going to laugh, I’m going to stop,” I threaten. It’s not too bad, but I don’t exactly see why I would do this on a regular basis yet.
“Oh, chill out. You can laugh at me too if you want.”
